Artisan Manchego cheese tasting at Quesos César

Quesos César is an artisan cheese dairy in Consuegra founded by Cesáreo Verbo, a local man, and for some thirty years now it has been making sheep's cheese with milk from Consuegra shepherds. It is on the outskirts, on the CM-4133 road, km 1, and besides selling its cheeses it opens its house to guided tastings and workshops where you make your own cheese. It is an activity for groups or a table of friends, not for dropping in unannounced: everything is by reservation.

The Premium Gourmet Tasting, step by step

It is led by an agronomist. It begins with an audiovisual presentation on the world of cheese: where it comes from, the raw material, how it is made and what to look for when tasting it. Then each participant has their own board with six artisan sheep's cheeses of different ageing and a cured-cheese cream, with breadsticks, fresh or candied fruit, compote or jam, nuts and quince paste, and local wine to pair. It lasts about two hours.

Among those made in the house are a creamy, slightly tangy young sheep's cheese, a semi-cured, an artisan cured, cheeses in oil and with honey, and El Gran César, cured for more than twelve months in the cellar, which was among the best cheeses in Spain at the GourmetQuesos competition in 2020.

The workshop where you make your cheese

The hands-on workshop also lasts about two hours. Each participant makes a home-style fresh cheese with all the material prepared and sees the stages the milk goes through: curdling, cutting the curd, draining the whey and moulding. At the end you take away your little cheese, of about 200 grams, in a container. It is completed with a tasting of sheep's cheeses with fruit, jams and nuts, and local wine.

The workshop floor and the shop

If the group's time coincides with production, you visit the workshop floor: the curd coming out of the vat, the moulding, the pressing and, if conditions allow, the maturing. It is included in the price. Afterwards you can drop into the shop, which sells its cheeses and local products: La Mancha saffron, extra virgin olive oil, wine, game pâtés, Iberian cured meats and craft beers.

What it costs and how to book

Prices are by group size, VAT included. The tasting: €250 for a group of up to six people, €35 per person for 7 to 15 and €30 per person from 16. The workshop: €300, €40 and €35. For a couple on their own, therefore, the tasting costs the same as for six. Bookings are made for Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, on 679 081 113 or at [email protected]; also on 925 480 387 and through the chat on its website.

It is a good finish to a morning at the windmills on Calderico hill and the castle. If you come at the end of October, the Saffron Rose Festival fills the village.